Hobbit tops US box office with $73.7m

Undaunted hobbits trumped princess power at the multiplex.

According to studio estimates on Sunday, Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was No. 1 at the US box office with $US73.7 million ($A82.62 million), beating last weekend's No.1 film, Disney's animated fable Frozen.

Melting down to the No. 2 position, Frozen earned $US22.2 million in its third weekend, bringing its impressive overall domestic ticket total to nearly $US164.4 million.

Despite its first place position, Hobbit fell short of topping its prequel's debut. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opened this same weekend last year, gained $US84.6 million.

'Hobbit rules this date and Warner Bros has linked this brand to this time of year very effectively,' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak.

The holiday-themed Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas came in third place with $US16.2 million.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, earned $US13.2 million for the fourth place slot. To date Catching Fire has grossed $US739.9 million, surpassing the worldwide box office total for The Hunger Games, which brought in $US691 million.

Disney's super hero sequel, Thor: The Dark World, continues to thrive as it remained in the top five with $US2.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $US198.1 million.

In its second weekend, drama Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, dropped to the sixth place position with $US2.3 million after opening in the third place slot.

Comedy Delivery Man, with Vince Vaughn as the lead, dropped in at No.7 in its fourth weekend at the box office with $US1.9 million, bringing its domestic total to $US28 million.

Philomena, starring Judi Dench, who received a best actress Golden Globe Awards nomination for her performance as a nun in search of her son, landed in the No.8 spot with $US1.8 million.

In its sixth weekend at the box office, Fox's Nazi Germany-set The Book Thief, starring Emily Watson, Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nelisse, held ninth position with $US1.7 million.

Coming in at No.10 was the Jason Statham and James Franco-starring Open Road crime thriller Homefront, which gained $US1.6 million in its third weekend. Its total domestic gross is now $US18.4 million.

Opening in limited release in just six locations, David Russell's con artist tale, American Hustle, scored $US690,000 over the weekend. This aces the success of his Oscar-winning film Silver Linings Playbook, which saw $US27,687 during its opening weekend in December last year.

American Hustle, featuring stellar performances by Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, has been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild nominations.

source: skynews.com.au

Alan G Parker to direct Kiss documentary

Alan G. Parker has been named director of the forthcoming official Kiss movie You Wanted The Best… You Got The Best.

The film promises to offer the most in-depth look yet at the band who formed in New York in the early 70s as Wicked Lester and went on to sell over 75 million albums.

Kiss singer/rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley says: “We are thrilled to have Alan on board to help tell the definitive KIss story. Alan’s knowledge of the band amazed even us.”

Band manager Doc McGhee added: “It’s an epic undertaking and everyone’s committed 100 per cent to bring this story to the big screen. We knew Alan was the only man for the job and we can’t wait to get started.”

Parker is currently in New York where work on the movie has just started. He comments: “I’m incredibly proud to be on board for this film, telling the story of a band I love so much and that has such a rich history.”

Parker’s past credits include Never Mind The Sex Pistols, Who Killed Nancy, Rebel Truce: The Story of The Clash and Monty Python: Almost The Truth. His most recent release was the acclaimed Hello Quo! documentary.

source: classicrockmagazine.com

Johnny Depp, Jennifer Love Hewitt Bring New Twists to Classic Films & More Casting News

Johnny Depp and Jennifer Love Hewitt are re-imagining stories, both classic and bizarre, in upcoming movies.

Depp will help give life to Miguel de Cervantes's famed character Don Quixote in a modern-day film for Disney, Deadline.com reports. The actor is set to produce the movie about the hero of La Mancha, but no word yet on whether he'll be acting in the project.








Hewitt will executive produce a Lifetime movie based on a post from Heather Gattuccio's blog Derfwad Manor, Deadline.com reports. In the blog post, the happily married mother dreams of polygamy with A-list stars. The movie tells a new version of the story of a bored homemaker's fictional blog about her own polygamy but when she starts getting noticed for her online presence, she must keep up the charade.

source: people.com

Sundance premiere planned for Eagles Documentary

Band to air Part 1 at festival in January

A new documentary about the Eagles is to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next year.

Produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and directed by Alison Ellwood, ‘History of the Eagles Part 1’ takes a fully authorised, intimate look at the band and chronicles their success throughout the 1970’s until their messy breakup in 1980. It features 25 new interviews with former and current band members , plus a whole host of other players in the Eagles story. The film will also feature a wealth of previously unreleased footage from the band’s archives including a rare concert film from the 1977 Hotel California tour.

"For the last five years and intensely this past year, we have been putting together this document of our history with Alex and Alison who have contributed their incredible talents to help us tell our story” said guitartist Glenn Frey. "We’re all very pleased with the progress so far, and are excited to see the finished product at Sundance”.

(ULTIMATE CLASSIC ROCK)

source: planetrock.com

Dave Grohl releases 'Sound City' trailer

Get an exclusive preview of his new documentary here.

Dave Grohl announced yesterday that he’ll be taking his first ever feature length documentary, ‘Sound City’ to the Sundance Film Festival early next year.

Now, he’s released a trailer for the film, which chronicles the history of the iconic Californian recording studio.

source: planetrock.com

‘Sopranos’ creator makes directorial debut with rock ‘n’ roll movie

NEW YORK – The creator of the popular “Sopranos” is back, this time on the big screen with a new saga set in the New Jersey suburbs filled with teenagers and rock ‘n’ roll instead of mobsters and violence.

David Chase’s cinema debut, “Not Fade Away”, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, is a coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s, centered around a group of teens who form a band and taste the entwined allures of rock music and rebellion.

At the core of the story is Douglas, played by John Magaro with the sleepy eyes and curly mop of a young Bob Dylan, who aspires to become a singer and songwriter.

Along the way come friendships and conflicts among the band members and growing tension with Douglas’ traditionally minded family, particularly his father, played by James Gandolfini.

Joining Gandolfini, best known as mobster Tony Soprano, in the making of “Not Fade Away” is another “Sopranos” alumnus, Steve Van Zandt. Van Zandt played mobster Silvio Dante on the hit HBO television series, produced and written by Chase, which ended five years ago.

A guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Van Zandt served as music supervisor for “Not Fade Away” and taught the actors to play hits by Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks in a 3-month musical studio “boot camp,” he said at a press briefing in New York.

“They’re a band now. They could perform at a party tonight,” Van Zandt said. “It took me, like, 10 years to learn what they learned in three months.”

Chase, 67, said the movie is immensely personal, but he stopped short of calling it autobiographical, despite his stint playing drums in a band as a teenager.

“We never got out of the basement,” he said. “No one ever saw us.”

“Not Fade Away” is infused with music, from the songs the band members learn to play to the ones they dream of playing, the ones they listen to and the music in other scenes viewers get to hear.

And the music illustrates freedom, as promised by rock ‘n’ roll as Douglas tries to follow his dream, and the safer choices made by the older generation, poignantly depicted by Gandolfini as he listens to “South Pacific” show tune “Bali Ha’i” in his tiny New Jersey home.

The movie grows out of the conflict between security and freedom, Chase said.

“Human beings are always in that conflict about ‘I want to be part of something, I want to be babied, I want to be taken care of’ and … ‘I’m free and I can do what I want and I’m my own person,’” he said.

Early reviews have ranged from very good to fair. Some critics praised Chase’s sharp dialogue and his ability to capture the era’s social and political changes, and one described Gandolfini’s performance as Oscar-worthy.

But other critics said Chase failed to develop his characters well and called his plot and story-telling formulaic, bringing no fresh insight to its look at an endlessly scrutinized era in U.S. history.

“Not Fade Away” is slated for release in December by Paramount Pictures.

source: interaksyon.com

jimmy page on another led zeppelin reunion 'i don't see It'

At one point in Celebration Day, the new film of Led Zeppelin's 2007 reunion concert in London, the camera stays long and tight on Jimmy Page's hands as they execute the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven" on the six-string neck of his double-neck Gibson guitar. It is one of rock's most iconic riffs, played in full and close-up by the composer, at one of his band's greatest and most important shows.

"With Led Zeppelin, it has always been that mystique of how the music is done – how it works, why it works," Page says on the phone from London a couple of weeks before Celebration Day's worldwide theatrical premiere on October 17th. "The closer you can get in on that and the more lingering it is, the better."

Celebration Day, which will be commercially released in various audio and visual formats on November 19th, is nothing more or less than Zeppelin's entire two-hour performance on December 10th, 2007, at London's O2 Arena. The concert, a benefit and tribute to the late Atlantic Records chief Ahmet Ertegun, was the first full Zeppelin show by Page, singer Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones since the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Bonham's son, Jason, took his father's place for the night, which is shown without backstage footage and includes minimal shots of the ecstatic audience. Instead, director Dick Carruthers – who shot the concert with more than a dozen cameras – provides extended close-ups of the band members in action: Plant in bluestrance moan during "Since I've Been Loving You"; Jones threading the folk-rock gallop of "Ramble On" with low-end countermelodies; everyone turning to Jason in admiration during his volcanic solo at the end of "Rock and Roll."

Celebration Day is "almost like being onstage with us," Jones says. "We always had that interaction," he adds, referring to Zeppelin's legendary concert prowess in the Seventies. "But nobody could see it, because the lighting wasn't there." Before the O2 show, Jones notes, "I remember Dick saying in one of the early meetings, 'I'm going to need 14 cameras.' Everybody went, 'What?' It paid off."

Page recalls walking off stage after the reunion concert feeling "really high. That's the truth. It was a serious test, and we passed it, all of us. And we had an extraordinary communion on the stage. That's alive and well when you see it." But it was quite a while – Page can't remember how long – before he saw a rough cut of Carruthers' footage ("We didn't rush into the editing suite to have it out for Christmas").

In fact, Plant and Jones viewed that cut first. "We came away raving," Jones says. "It was very fitting to the experience. We called Jimmy and said, 'You've gotta see this.'"

"The thing about Led Zeppelin was that it was always four musicians at the top of their game, but they could play like a band," Page says. "Even in the first couple of rehearsal days, running up to the O2, we were playing pretty good. But we really wanted to shine as a band." He cites the set list's opening sequence – from the surprise opener, "Good Times Bad Times," from 1969's Led Zeppelin, into "Ramble On" and the tortuous crunch of "Black Dog." "I wanted people to feel, 'They're taking this seriously.'

"And I have to tell you, the rehearsals were all quite different," Page says, "so much in that Zeppelin spirit and character." To prove it, a deluxe edition of the DVD will include footage from the band's only full-scale production rehearsal before the O2 concert. "You get the urgency of that night, but also the determination that was in rehearsal."

Inevitably, Celebration Day has set off more reunion talk. At a London press conference announcing the film, Plant raved about the O2 performance: "To get back in the middle of that music was a spectacular experience." But he and Page evaded questions about additional shows. When asked if the movie marks the end of Zeppelin, once and for all, Jones – who is busy writing an opera and collaborating with Robyn Hitchcock and the Norwegian group Supersilent – responds, "When I move house, I never look back at the house and go, 'Oh, that's the last moment I'll see there.' I always move forward."

"That's a good answer," Page says, laughing. But he is more direct. "I think if there had been any more concerts to be done, we'd already be talking about them. So I don't see it." Celebration Day, he adds, "is a testament to what we did in 2007. There it is."

source: rollingstone.com

Fans, filmgoers get look at vintage Rolling Stones

NEW YORK – Fans celebrating the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary get a never-before-seen look at the band on tour in 1965 with a new film revealing the young musicians chased by crazed fans, poking fun at musical rivals and playing raw versions of songs that would become legend.

“The Rolling Stones Charlie is my Darling – Ireland 1965,” premiered at the New York Film Festival held this week, featuring painstakingly restored footage from a hand-held camera of the band’s two-day journey to Belfast and Dublin.

Shot in the wake of the release of “A Hard Day’s Night” with its close-up look at the Beatles, the filming was an effort to get the Rolling Stones used to being followed around by a camera, said producer Robin Klein. It was shot by filmmaker Peter Whitehead.

“They didn’t know what they were going to do with it at the time,” she told reporters at the festival, which like the Stones is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. “It was just to have them in front of the camera.”

While edgier and darker than many of their musical contemporaries, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts nevertheless exude a youthfulness and affability as they cavort for the camera.

But their sophistication shines through, particularly in Jagger’s comments pondering the band’s success and the politics of the era. Also on display is the Stones’ sexual power, as the notorious front man seduces audiences into such a frenzy that the band is chased off stage in Belfast by excited fans.

The tour took place just weeks after “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” hit the top of the musical charts.

Behind the scenes, the film shows Jagger and Richards playfully singing the Beatles’ tunes “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “Eight Days A Week” and imitating Elvis Presley crooning “Are You Lonesome Tonight.”

“Charlie” features more than 90,000 hand-restored individual frames, and more than half of it has not been seen publicly before, said director Mick Gochanour.

Two earlier and shorter versions were made from the footage in the 1960s but never formally released, although they made their way into the bootleg market, said film publicist Tracey Jordan.

“Charlie is my Darling,” will be released in DVD and Blu-ray formats as part of a box set on sale worldwide on Nov. 6.

source: interaksyon.com

Slash Starts Work On Horror Film Score

The guitarist is working on the music for the first film from his production company


Slash revealed on his Facebook page yesterday that he was "Going into the studio tonight to work on "Nothing to Fear" score. It's really coming together. Iiii]; )'"

Nothing To Fear will be the first film released by Slasher Films. It is being directed by Anthony Leonardi III, a creature artist and storyboard artist who worked on "Rango" and "47 Ronin", and it began shooting in May in Louisiana.

 

 

(Blabbermouth)

 

source: planetrock.com 

Cruise Doubts He Could Sell Rock Star Act In Film

MANILA, Philippines --- Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise once thought he wouldn’t be able to convince the public of his portrayal of fictional rock star Stacee Jaxx in the film version of “Rock of Ages.”

During the early days of filming, Cruise confided to director Adam Shankman that if he could not sing the part, he wouldn’t be up for it.

Recalled Shankman, “There was a moment when we were looking at each other and Tom said, ‘Well, what if I can’t sell this? Because I won’t do it if it’s not me singing.’ With everything he does, from stunts to performing in front of an audience, it has to be him doing it.

“He believes his audience has come to expect that, and why bother doing it otherwise? But this is what he loves. He loves making movies and he wants to be really good, so he works harder than anybody at it.”

But Cruise went to great lengths to pull the rock star stunt. Instead of concentrating on cuts of his muscles, which he usually does in his action films, Cruise zeroed in on his vocal capacity. He would later realize that he can in fact sing very well. Yes, even that belting part, Cruise did well, all by himself, in “Rock of Ages.”

“From the moment he signed on, Tom started training his voice with an incredible vocal coach, Ron Anderson,” said Shankman.

“I remember the first time we heard him sing. He’s got this outrageous, four-octave range – turns out he has opera singers in his ancestry, so he’s probably genetically predisposed to sing, but no one’s ever asked him to before. I’m just the lucky recipient of this revelation, I suppose.”

The filmmaker confessed to feeling of relief when he found out Cruise could really pipe out songs because he had always wanted a Hollywood biggie to play Stacee Jaxx. “The joy at having discovered that he can sing was a huge relief.” Shankman admitted.

In the plot, “Stacee Jaxx is the rock god that every guy wants to be and that every woman wants to bed. The lead singer of Arsenal, Stacee is at a turning point in his career, and in his life. He’s about to go solo, and his final show with the band is at The Bourbon Room.

It’s a homecoming of sorts, as he played his first gig there back in the day. But fame and fortune may have come too easily to the front man who, after years of indulgence, has become boozed up and blasé to the point of bored, and less than reliable when it comes to showing up for his own shows.”

Shankman looked back at how his casting dream became a reality: “I was thinking to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we got one of the biggest movie stars in the world to play one of the biggest rock stars in the world?’ As luck would have it, I ran into Tom Cruise, told him I was directing this movie, that it was a musical, and that I was going to offer him this part. He said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said I was. Then I described Stacee to him and he laughed really hard. The next thing I knew, he was in, and I was making a musical with Tom Cruise.”

Luckily for the “Hairspray” director, Cruise exceeded expectations: “Tom is a rock god because he brings all of the star power that comes along with being Tom Cruise, and he’s found a character that audiences have never seen before.”

However, Cruise is not the only A-lister lending star power to the film, Alec Baldwin and Catherine Zeta-Jones are also on board as well as Russell Brand, Paul Giamati an Malin Akerman.

The New Line Cinema production distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures opens June 14.

source: mb.com.ph

Def Leppard and Poison Take Over Hollywood for 'Rock of Ages' Premiere

The Eighties-themed musical Rock of Ages had its star-studded premiere in Hollywood last night, bringing out cast members like Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Russell Brand as well as a wide array of Eighties rockers, from REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin to Lita Ford.

Those veterans of the Sunset Strip music scene were right at home. "It's not 2012 tonight," MC Riki Rachtman told the star-studded crowd, taking everyone back to the days of big hair and big hooks. And for one night it was 1987 again as the makeshift "Bourbon Club," the fictional venue that serves as the center of the movie, delivered pyrotechnic-laden sets from a "fired-up" Bret Michaels with Poison and Def Leppard.

"To be here with Catherine, Tom and everyone and having a party, that’s an awesome day," Bret Michaels told Rolling Stone. "And the fact that it’s with Def Leppard, my friends, I’m in my natural environment."

Def Leppard also felt comfortable, though guitarist Phil Collen noted that some musicians get nervous at this kind of high-profile gig. "They go, 'Oh my god, look who’s over there,'" he said. As for Collen, he loves being the center of attention. "I’m really cool with it. In fact when we’ve had like Jimmy Page on the side of the stage, we’ve had everybody come down, I kind of ham it up and actually it works in my favor," he said. "[And] tonight, because we met Tom and he’s so super cool, I think it’s gonna be a blast."

"We were there when Tom sung his bits for 'Pour Some Sugar On Me,'" Joe Elliott added. "It was in Fort Lauderdale about a year ago. We just played West Palm Beach and they invited us to come and see him shoot it, that was very cool." Count Elliott among the many impressed with Cruise's transformation into a rock star. "He was great," Elliott said. "He got really kind of in deep with the project."

For many attendees, last night was also just a celebration of the era. "Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, we were all one big family," Lita Ford said. And it was also a chance to maybe get some vindication. After all, the Eighties hard rock scene has often been regarded as the bastard step-child of the time, maligned in the same way disco was lambasted in the Seventies.

But a big Hollywood film and hit Broadway musical based on the songs of the time gives the tunes more credibility. "I think right now we have empirical proof that this music is infinitely more enduring than people gave it credit for back then," director Adam Shankman told Rolling Stone.

That is music to the ears of some of those who have not been treated kindly by critics over the years. "When you see the longevity of it, it does kind of make people kind of go, 'You know what? REO Speedwagon didn’t suck as much as I thought they did,'" Kevin Cronin said. "'They still suck, but not as much as I thought.'”

Elliott believes that those who give the music a chance will find some gems. "We don’t need a film to vindicate the fact that the Eighties had its moments," he said. "So many people knock it, Lou Reed fans and Loudon Wainwright fans, whatever, they have a go at the Sunset Strip and say, 'Oh, it’s awful.' There is some good stuff. For people brave enough to be honest, you’ll find there’s a lot of great music in the Eighties."

source: rollingstone.com

Foo Fighters Drummer Will Play Iggy Pop in 'CBGB'

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will portray Iggy Pop in the forthcoming film CBGB, the Hollywood Reporter confirms. This will be Hawkins' first significant acting role, though he has had comedic roles in a handful of Foo Fighters videos. It's unclear how substantial the role will be – there's a good chance that it's a small part and Hawkins was cast in part because he somewhat resembles the Stooges rocker in his prime.

Other parts in the film have been cast as well, including The Borgias actress Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith, The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki as Television manager Terry Ork, Malin Akerman as Blondie singer Debbie Harry and Rupert Grint as Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. Alan Rickman will star as Hilly Kristal, the owner of the famous punk rock hot spot.

source: rollingstone.com

'Avengers' Already A Smash Overseas

The Avengers have already started to assemble overseas, and early box-office reports are spelling very good things for Marvel's tentpole. The superhero movie that brings together Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk has reportedly made $12.5 million in a handful of foreign markets and is already breaking records, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In Australia, "The Avengers" has already banked $7 million, a total that has only been beaten by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," which earned $8 million during its Down Under debut.

The foreign rollout has proven lucrative elsewhere, too, as France added $3 million to the total.

Early tracking estimated that "The Avengers" could make more than $150 million during its early May opening weekend in the U.S. That would put the film in the same class as "Spider-Man 3," "The Hunger Games," "The Dark Knight" and "Deathly Hallows, Part 2."

This could potentially mean the biggest debut for a Marvel Studios movie yet. "Iron Man 2" currently holds that honor. The Robert Downey Jr. sequel opened to $128 million back in 2010. That's followed by the first "Iron Man" at $98 million.

"The Avengers" has the added advantage of higher ticket prices. The film is playing both in 3-D and in IMAX 3-D, so each individual ticket will add more to the final total. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" saw a large bump in its record-breaking run thanks in part to higher prices attached to 3-D showings.

source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1683925/avengers-movie-international-box-office.jhtml

Prince William and Kate turn heads at film premiere

LONDON - Britain's Prince William and wife Catherine walked the red carpet Wednesday at the premiere of a film on African wildlife in their first official engagement since his return from the Falklands.

They were guests of honour at the London screening of Disney's African Cats, which tells the story of a pride of lions and a family of cheetahs. The premiere is raising money for British-based conservation charity Tusk Trust.

Catherine, whose official title is Duchess of Cambridge, appeared in a dove-grey dress with jade detailing which online royal watchers quickly identified as a work of Welsh designer Matthew Williamson.

The couple will mark their first wedding anniversary on Sunday and celebrate it "privately", a spokeswoman said.

Their wedding drew global television audiences of two billion.

William was deployed to the Falklands for six weeks in February and March on a tour of duty as a search and rescue pilot, enraging Argentina, which condemned the prince's tour as a "provocation".

Britain has held the Falklands since 1833 but Buenos Aires claims they are occupied Argentinian territory.

source: interaksyon.com

New Rolling Stones Movie in the Works

The Rolling Stones will hit the silver screen once again. Deadline Hollywood reports that Virgin Produced, the movie branch of Richard Branson's business empire, has just acquired the film rights to Robert Greenfield's 2008 book Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell.

While countless documentaries have been made about the Stones, the movie that Virgin Produced is developing will be a drama about the summer that the band spent in the South of France recording their 1972 double album, Exile on Main Street. It will focus particularly on the sometimes-tumultuous relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

In a 2010 interview on the making of that classic album, Keith Richards told Rolling Stone, "It wasn't a great environment for, like, breathing. It was very Hitleresque — the last days of Berlin sort of thing."

source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/new-rolling-stones-movie-in-the-works-20120422